Nelson draws on deep Ames roots

Friday

Oct 25, 2013 at 11:32 AMOct 25, 2013 at 11:46 AM

Chris Nelson has deep roots in Ames.

Chris Nelson has deep roots in Ames.

Nelson is the challenger running for Ames City Council in Ward 4.

It was more than 150 years ago when Nelson’s ancestors first moved to the area, which makes the 42-year-old a sixth-generation resident. He holds two degrees from Iowa State University, where he also ran track and was a member of FarmHouse fraternity. He now serves as an adviser for his fraternity.

It was at Ames High School where he met the woman he would marry, Anne. The two were runners, cross country in the fall, with Anne running distance events in the spring and Nelson running sprints, which he would eventually also run for the Cyclones.

“My wife and I were always competitive with each other, but I could always barely beat her,” he said. “And about two years ago, it flipped, and it’s not even competitive anymore.”

The two dated through college. Anne, too, is a native of Ames and an alumna of ISU. Her father was the dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine for a number of years.

Even Nelson’s job has deep roots. He serves as vice president for his family business, Nelson Electric Company. It has been in the family since his great-grandfather started the company in 1908. Before Nelson’s great-grandfather struck out on his own, he worked for the city’s power plant doing electrical wiring.

“Prior to 1908,” Nelson said, “if you wanted your house or your business wired, you called the power plant and the power plant came out.”

When the city opened up the business to the private sector, his great-grandfather left his job to start Nelson Electric.

“The rest is history,” Nelson said.

After college, Nelson spent some time outside of Iowa, when he and his wife lived in Chicago for a couple of years. After that, they returned to Iowa, living for nine years in West Des Moines. It was 2008 that Nelson and his wife decided to move back to their hometown.

“One of the big reasons for that move was actually that our oldest son had finished kindergarten in West Des Moines, and we wanted to be in Ames and have our kids start school in Ames,” Nelson said.

Nelson said he and his wife both have fond memories of their time in Ames schools, and they wanted their kids to grow up with the opportunities that were afforded to them.

At the time, Nelson’s uncle was looking to retire from Nelson Electric, so Nelson bought his interest in the company, which has offices in Ames, Waterloo and Carroll, with about 60 employees.

“This is really where we wanted to be,” he said.

And now Nelson wants to be on the Ames City Council. He said he has always had a run for office in the back of his mind, but this year the timing seemed right. He said Ames has opportunity in front of it, and he wants to help guide the city through the right track. After a decade of stagnation, Nelson said, the city has seen renewed growth in the past three years, and Nelson that to continue.

“I’m very committed to maintaining that positive momentum,” he said.

He said it’s important that the city make sure there aren’t any “undue roadblocks” that may stand in the way of projects in Ames. Whether they are building projects or company projects, Nelson said he wants to make sure he helps those things along.

“There’s a lot of positive things that are on the radar screen here in Ames,” he said, “and making sure that those happen is a priority for me, in a responsible manner.”